Pages: 360 Price: $16.44 Purchase at: or contact the author or order through any bookstore

Eyes of the Mirror

From the book:

First thing in the morning I padded across a very wide beach to the receded surf. As I peeled off my sweatshirt and set it down on my towel, I noticed two fishermen standing in the foam about a hundred yards away. I was afraid I’d frighten them–this sticklike ninety-pound weakling walking into the water. I frighten myself. Were they wondering if they’d have to come rescue me? I waded in past my waist and dove into a swell. I knew it was what I was supposed to do, had to do, despite the steely coldness of the saltwater and the inability of the sun’s weak rays to compensate. I’m obeying a command when I do this. Is it the ocean’s or my body’s? I’m returning. Not ashes to ashes and dust to dust, but water to water. Either I’m on the way out or I’m being reborn.

When Margaret Emerson closes out her life as a potter at the age of 48 and embarks on a second adulthood, she doesn’t know how radical the metamorphosis will be. Within 3 years she is close to death from misdiagnosed type-1 diabetes. The availability of injectable insulin gives her a chance at a new life, a shortcut to reincarnation.

Eyes of the Mirror is a self-portrait of a whole person–the view looking out and the view looking in. The author is an independent woman; an educated, rational Westerner steeped in Eastern philosophy who uses T’ai Chi, meditation, visions, and dreams to sustain and guide her. She interweaves intellect and intuition. The true focus of her life is knitting together conscious and subconscious, shaping an exterior that’s an authentic reflection of her interior.

The narrative moves back and forth between South Korea where the author taught English and studied T’ai Chi for two years and the American Pacific Northwest where she earned a master’s degree in writing, taught T’ai Chi, and eventually resettled. The two locations cast light on each other and help the writer to see herself.

People who are transitioning into second adulthoods and who want a life composed of more than striving for material security will identify with the story. Readers are calling it “powerful,” “provocative,” and “beautifully written.”